1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to pinball type games and more particularly to a novel gaming device including a generally oval-shaped playing field having simulated roulette wheel decoration with scoring contacts arranged around the perimeter and goals disposed on opposite sides thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous pinball type games have heretofore been developed in which a small steel ball is projected to the top of a sloped playing surface and allowed to roll under the influence of its own weight downwardly through an array of bumpers, switches, flippers, etc., with button-controlled switches being provided to allow player interaction with the course taken by the ball until it is eventually lost to a receptacle in the playing field or along one edge thereof. Most such games, however, are desgined for single player operation and are not particularly well suited for simultaneous competitive play between several players.
Those games which are designed to allow competitive play ordinarily include a rectangular-shaped playing field having a number of either manually or electrically operated obstacles or flippers arrayed alternately over the length of the playing field with goals at each end, and the game is played in a manner similar to soccer. Although such games are interesting to play, they rarely involve skillful manipulation of flippers to accomplish anything other than driving a ball into the opponent's goal. Examples of such games are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: Meyer, 2,150,515; Henderson, 2,237,486; Burch, 3,064,978; Gottlieb et al, 3,675,927; Leonhart, 3,910,580; and Goldfarb et al, 4,046,380. Also of interest is game disclosed in French Patent No. 1,373,806.